Number: 16
Age: 25
Birth date: March 2, 1995
Birthplace:Winnipeg, Manitoba
Height, weight:5-10, 192
Stats:71 GP, 17-27-44, 4.2 point shares, 52.94 xGF% at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick
Contract:Signed through 2021-22 season (Two years remaining before UFA status)
It just feels like Max Domi is destined to become a fan favorite in Columbus.
The center, acquired in early October from Montreal in exchange for winger Josh Anderson, brings a boatload of personality with him to the capital city.
He's the son of one of the most notorious fighters in the league in Tie Domi. He's friendly with some of the most notable names in sports and show business, with ties to such names as Tom Brady, Mark Wahlberg, Drake and Justin Bieber. He's active on social media, including pictures and videos of his dog Orion, a diabetic alert dog who goes everywhere with Domi. And as someone battling diabetes in a high-profile situation, Domi figures to be plenty popular in the community as well.
Oh, and the dude can play hockey.
The No. 12 overall pick in the 2013 draft, Domi has the potential to put up big numbers in Columbus. He's averaged 55 points per 82 games thus far in his NHL career and shown the potential for even more, and it seems like Domi will get plenty of ice time as he slots into a top-six center role with the Blue Jackets along with Pierre-Luc Dubois.
In fact, he seems to fit perfectly into a team that needed an upgrade down the middle going into the 2020-21 season.
"We got a centerman that we have been looking for in Max Domi, and he's going to fill a hole for us that we've been looking to fill for a long time and are excited about him joining our club," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "He brings a lot of different qualities that we are looking for. He's competitive, he's feisty, he plays with a chip on his shoulder, he has good hockey sense, he has speed. So he's going to bring a lot of those things into our club. He plays like a Blue Jacket."
Entering the season: Domi took a huge leap forward in 2018-19, posting career highs of 28 goals and 72 points to place tied for 46th in the NHL in scoring in his first season in Montreal. Based off of that performance in his age 24 season, Domi was seen as an important part of the Canadiens' future and expected to be a top offensive performer.
Season recap:As it turned out, Domi couldn't quite match those offensive numbers this year, seeing his point total drop down to 44 points in 71 games. For Montreal, it was hard to overcome considering Domi was a player who was seen as someone who simply had to score for one of the league's best defensive teams to do enough on offense to make noise.
Domi got off to a red-hot start, posting a 3-7-10 line in the first 10 games for Montreal and earning at least a point in nine of them. He also had another impressive run through December and early January, at one point notching six goals and 15 points in a 13-game span. At that point, he had a 12-21-33 line through 44 games, but he cooled off from there with 11 points in the last 27 games for the Habs.
While that stretch prompted consternation in one of the most hockey-mad cities in the world, the underlying numbers weren't bad for Domi on the whole. In particular, he was impressive when it came to controlling where shots came from when he was on the ice, as per Natural Stat Trick Montreal had 53.0 percent of the scoring chances, 53.3 percent of the high-danger chances and 52.9 percent of the expected goals on the ice when at 5-on-5. He also saw his shooting percentage fall from 13.8 percent to 9.5 this past season, a sign of perhaps some bad luck in his case.
Domi also projects as someone who can contribute on the power play, as he has five goals and 17 assists on the man advantage over the past two seasons. The hope is Domi will help what has been a struggling power play for Columbus over the past few campaigns while adding scoring punch to the team's talents at center.
"Playing down the middle of the ice is exciting," he said. "You have the puck way more, and with speed coming through the middle and being able to distribute the puck. They have some pretty deadly goal scorers in that lineup in Columbus and to get those guys the puck is something I'm looking forward to. On the power play as well, we have a pretty special group."
